The 69th Regiment of the U.S. Army, based in New York City, dates back to the Civil War and has roots of Irish heritage, making the St. Patrick’s Day parade one of their biggest annual events. Every year, on March 17th, Lexington Avenue is packed with two thousand military personnel, most in formal uniform, and their families for the parade, which is then followed by an awards ceremony at the armory. In conjunction with the ceremonies of the day, the “Fighting 69th”, a custom Irish whiskey was also scheduled for a soft launch this year.
My wife and father-in-law were integral in the creation of the whiskey, and the soft launch sounded like a great opportunity to try and capture some amazing portraits. The first thing I did was consult my father-in-law to see if he could grant me access. After a few introductions, I ended up speaking with the man in charge, explaining exactly what I wanted to do, my set-up, and offering my services to shoot portraits of anyone who would sit for me. In return they would be sent a nice photo of themselves. Everyone seemed happy and felt it was a nice gesture to offer. After providing me and my assistant’s information for security clearance (and probably a background check), I was approved for the shoot.
I was given a small space in a room to set up the next day. It was a nook where I could be noticed but essentially out-of-the-way, in an area reserved for officers, commanders, and other high-ranking officials. What was important about that detail was that I was pretty much only going to have high-ranking officers sit for me, especially since I was stationed directly outside the Commander’s office. General Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was going to be in attendance. To be honest, I was not fully expecting a man like him to sit for me, but as any of us photographers in this situation would be, I was hopeful he would.
I was inspired by the large, classic oil paintings of historical high-ranking officers hanging on the walls of a large room I explored in the armory. Some of these formal portraits were dated before the turn of the century. They looked stoic and regal, and that’s when I decided to use them as the basis for my concept. I knew that the portraits were going to have earthy tones, with all the dark wood textures I had to shoot against, so that night I cut, stained, and built a small wooden posing table[top] that I could attach to a small c-stand with a baby wall plate.
The day of the shoot went as planned. My assistant and I arrived, set up, and began waiting for people to come through to sit for me. After getting a few great portraits, General Dempsey arrived and scurried past me and into the Commander’s office with his entourage.
When he came out of the office, I caught his attention and kindly asked if he would sit for a portrait. He said he would but only after the ceremony. From there he left and went to a room that resembled an airplane hanger, to address thousands of soldiers, and to sing. Yup, to sing a song. The General has some pipes on him.
An hour or so later he returned and sat for me for a total of 20 Seconds. I thanked him, told him what an honor it was to photograph him and, of course, Happy St. Paddy’s Day. I was able to capture eight frames in total of General Dempsey: four pulled back at the set up I started with, two mediums, and finally, two close ups where I shifted the light slightly. It was quick.
Since I was pretty much given only one option in terms of where to shoot my subjects, I had to consider compositing the background since I was not in love with the actual wall I was shooting against. After the shoot I explored the Armory looking for backdrops that would match well with the portraits I had just shot. Using my flash head in a similar angle and distance to the original walls I photographed against, as well as the same lens and height of my camera, I shot background plates so that in post I could composite the images to match my vision and create a better image as a whole.
Equipment used:
Speedlight 600RT with diffusion cap
Roberto Chamorro is a commercial portrait photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. He mostly specializes in celebrity and kids advertising.
To view more of Roberto’s work please visit www.robertochamorro.com and on Instagram @robertochamorro for a mixture of new work and behind the scenes photos.
